


Burning Water

by SansyFresh, SheeWolf85



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, College AU, Fluff, Food, Hurt/Comfort, Like 4 years, M/M, Past Domestic Abuse, Past physical abuse, Small age gap, Spicyhoney - Freeform, gratuitous descriptions of food, past emotional abuse, professor/student
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-02-08 02:51:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21468865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SansyFresh/pseuds/SansyFresh, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SheeWolf85/pseuds/SheeWolf85
Summary: Edge is done with Rus acting like he doesn't care. Either Rus can man up and actually put forth some effort, or he can get the fuck out of his class.A fic written between myself and Sheewolf85!!
Relationships: Papyrus/Papyrus (Undertale)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 60





	1. It Begins with Breakfast

**Author's Note:**

> wooo new fic!! this one is a fic chain being done between myself and Wolfi!! I'm really excited to see how this one goes ^^
> 
> enjoy guys :D

The slam of a cabinet counter sounded through the house, Edge huffing as he poured the last of the muffin mix into a waiting mixing bowl. Stirring with great vigor, he turned, stopping suddenly to point the soiled spoon at his brother.

“And Cindy Ethers! She doesn’t give two shits about cooking, it’s just about the grade for her!” He went back to stirring, ignoring the huff of amusement behind him. “Its like these kids just want to stick to junk and prepackaged garbage for the rest of their lives! What if they have families, what if they actually need to know how to cook for an emergency job?”

Red sighed behind him, sipping at his coffee. “I know what yer sayin’, Paps, but you gotta remember that most a these ‘kids’ are livin’ in low income places. They can’ afford a bunch a high quality cookin’ shit.”

Edge grunted, flipping the last omelette before plating it atop a bed of fried potatoes bits. Glancing back at his brother, Edge winced as he poured a measure of dijon mustard atop the whole meal before placing the plate in front of Red.

The breakfast went as they usually did, with Red grunting a thank you before digging in. Edge went a little easier on his own plate, his anxious soul making is difficult to eat his full portion. Still, he cleaned his plate in a timely manner and took both his and Red’s plates, setting them in the sink to be cleaned later that night. 

Red hummed an amused sound as Edge set about cleaning up the breakfast mess. “Y’know, Paps, ‘m pretty sure there’s one kid ya don’ mind so much.” 

Edge stiffened in place, turning around to point the dirty knife he was about to put in the sink towards his brother. “Mind your shit, brother.”

Red laughed hard, wiping away a tear as Edge began power walking out of the kitchen. “Don’ remember teachin’ ya ta have such a filthy mouth, Paps.”

Throwing a middle finger over his shoulder, Edge headed to his room, slamming the door just enough to let Red know just how “angry” he was about the teasing.

It only took a few minutes for him to get ready, his car warming up in the cooler air when he finally headed outside to take the twenty minute drive to the school. The drive was filled with the strains of the Jonas Brothers and Carly Rae Jepsen, Edge letting one hand dangle out of the window as the other stayed steady on the wheel. 

The drive ended long before he was ready for it to. Grabbing his bag as he hopped out of the car, Edge sent up a prayer to the Angel, or really any stars who would listen, that today would be a decent one. The walk inside was a short one, some of the teachers greeting him on the way to the Culinary Room. He nodded a hello in return, finally coming up to the large wooden door with the sign Culinary 101 stated on it in bold letters. 

As he settled into his seat and the students started pouring in, he wondered if perhaps his prayers had been answered. Most of the students looked prepared to learn, most of them even remembering their aprons this time. 

But, of course, as the bell rang and he stood, ready to take attendance and mark down whoever was tardy, the door swung open one last time and in walked Rus Garland, a lanky skeleton who absolutely  _ infuriated  _ Edge with every fiber of his being. 

And, again, of course, instead of apologizing for being late, or trying to get on Edge’s good side by bringing anything he was supposed to have, Rus sat with his bag in a seat that wasn’t even his own, like he had every day so far that semester, and went to sleep.

Edge had let it go most days, mostly because he didn’t have the time to waste on a student who was only going to fail and was only there for the credits. But he’d seen Rus at his best. He’d seen Rus’ face light up the first time he’d made a casserole without it burning. He’d seen Rus putting  _ in actual effort _ , just. Not that often, and never when other people were around to see it.

He was done waiting on Rus to get with the program. He was done watching this skeleton waste his potential when all Edge wanted was for him to actually give the course a percentage of the effort he could bring forward. 

So, finally, he snapped.

“Mr. Garland, if all you are going to do in my class is catch z’s then take the F and get out.”


	2. Differing Opinions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rus is an absolute shit and I love him.

Rus startled up into a seated position as the professor all but shouted his name and told him to get out. He knew Professor Franklin hated his metaphorical guts, but wasn’t it against some kind of code to tell a student to leave? He’d paid for this class, dammit. 

Why the hell had he chosen this class again? 

“isn’t today just a lecture?” Rus yawned. He’d been up late the night before studying for another class that had an actual test today; couldn’t he just look up the notes online later? If actual attendance wasn’t part of his grade, he’d have stayed in bed. 

Professor Cactus-Up-His-Ass leveled him with a glare. “Just a lecture?” he asked, his voice betraying his irritation. “Mr. Garland, lectures are a very important part of class. Would anyone else like to enlighten Mr. Garland on why that is?”

A human student toward the front of the class raised his hand with lightning speed. Rus rolled his eye lights; that kid had been the teacher’s pet since the first day of the semester. 

Mr. Franklin nodded at him, and the student turned to face Rus like the suck-up he was. 

“Lectures are important because they go over the information you need to know before you practice it in the labs.”

“Close enough,” Mr. Franklin said. 

“labs?” Rus scoffed. “it’s a kitchen, not a--”

“Regardless of what you call it,” the professor interrupted, “it’s important practice and the majority of your grade.” Rus was sure one of his sockets was about to start twitching, and he had to admit he was glad to be awake to see it.

“yeah, majority of my grade, and i do the damn labs. attendance is only like a quarter, but i’m here, aren’t i?” 

Mr. Franklin sucked in a slow, deep breath and pinched his nasal ridge. “If you read the syllabus as well as you seemed to have, then you would know that attendance is only a portion of that quarter percentage. Participation is just as important.”

“how the hell am i gonna participate in a lecture?” Rus snapped back. “it’s just you up there droning on about shit i don’t care about. why do i need to know the history of cheese to make a damn casserole?”

His question incited a few snickers around the room. 

“Participation comes in many forms, Mr. Garland,” Edge ground out between clenched teeth. “You could at least try to look alive.”

Rus snorted. “if that was really a requirement, i’m not the only one lacking. guess you gotta leave class too, since you’re a skeleton and all.”

More laughter, a little louder this time, erupted from some of the other students. 

Professor Franklin was silent for a few long seconds. Rus swallowed. Shit, he’d broken his professor. Finally, he put on that disturbing smile of his that said he would much rather literally bite someone’s head off and spoke in an unnervingly even tone. 

“You can stay in my classroom today if you’re going to pay attention. Otherwise, pack up your belongings and get out. I won’t ask you again.”

Ooh, veiled threats. Rus was so scared. 

Okay, he was kind of scared, because he actually needed the credits and while it was rare, a professor could withdraw a student from their class under certain circumstances. 

Resigning himself to an hour of the professor talking about sugar, Rus sighed and nodded. 

“i guess i’ll pay attention then.”

The professor nodded as though he thought Rus had made a wise decision, then turned and began class as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. 

After the torture was over, Rus headed to the librarby to study for a minute before he had to take his physics test. On the way, his phone rang, and Rus swallowed thickly when he saw that it was his brother. 

With a deep breath, he answered. 

“hey, bro,” he said softly. 

“Good morning, brother!” Blue sang happily. “I figured you’d be out of class now. You did go, didn’t you?”

Rus sighed. “yeah, but you know i don’t need you to check on me.” Oh, but he wanted his brother to keep doing just that. It made him happy when Blue called to wake him in the morning and remind him of what was on his schedule for the day. The trouble was that he’d let himself rely on it, and on days when Blue was busy, Rus would be lost and late to everything and his day would turn to literal shit. It was a thing they were both working on. Rus had to set his own alarms and Blue had to let him fall on his ass if he forgot.

“I wasn’t! I was just…” Blue sighed. “I just wanted to call to say hi and ask how you’re doing. I feel like I haven’t talked to you for ages!”

Rus felt the same way, but in reality it had only been two days. If Rus wasn’t so reliant on him or Blue so enabling, then it would be fine to talk every day. But as it was, they’d find themselves easily slipping into old habits if they weren’t careful, so they had to go a few days in between phone calls every now and then. 

Interesting how distance didn’t do as much for Rus striking out on his own as he’d thought it would. 

“i know what you mean, bro. i’m doing good. i got chewed out by my professor today.” He relayed the story to Blue and couldn’t help but laugh a little when Blue got after him for arguing with a teacher. 

“nah, bro, not just any teacher. i’m sure if you called this guy a teacher he’d puff up like an angry cat and tell you ‘that’s  _ professor  _ to you, insignificant peon!’” He hiked his voice to a slightly higher pitch despite his professor’s voice actually being a lower bass than his tenor. 

Blue tried to hide his laughter, but Rus could hear it in his words. “That’s rude, Rus!”

“might be, but it’s true.”

Rus stopped outside the librarby to finish his phone call. He and Blue talked a little about Blue’s plans for the day, then Blue wished Rus luck with his test. 

“yeah, thanks, bro. speakin’ a’ which, i gotta go study.”

“All right,” Blue sighed. “You’ll do great! I have faith in you!” 

Rus smiled into the phone. “you always do.”

They hung up and Rus took a deep breath before heading into the librarby. 


End file.
